Sole machine



C. A. HILL SOLE MACHINE Sept. 10, 1940.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed lay 4, 1939 a c. A. HILL Sept. 10. 1940.

sow MACHINE Filed llay 4, i959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOLE MACHINE Application May 4, 1939, Serial No. 271,794

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to sole machines and more particularly to such machines employed in the manufacture of lipped insoles for shoes,

notably welt shoes. As herein illustrated, the invention is embodied in a machine for raising and pressing together the two flaps of a channeled welt insole to form a stitch-receiving lip or rib, such a machine being commonly known as a lip-setting machine.

An object of the present invention is to improve the construction and mode of operation of such a lip-setting machine and to facilitate the guiding and feeding of an insole into and through it.

With this object in view, the present invention comprises certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts which will not be described in detail in connection with the. accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and then the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the head of the machine with some of its parts removed;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the principal operating parts of the machine, an insole being shown in section in place in the machine;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of parts shown in Fig. 2 but with the insole and the pressure roll omitted;

Fig. 4 is a view as seen from the right of Fig. 2 and partly in section on a larger scale of parts shown in Fig. 2 in the position which they occupy when the toe portion of an insole is being operated upon;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but with the parts in the position which they occupy when the forward shank portion of the insole is being operated upon, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on lines VI-VI of Fig. 4.

The illustrated machine is inthe nature of an improvement of the lip-setting machine de-- scribed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,726,800, granted on September 3, 1929, upon an application of F. E. Bertrand, and particularly in Figs. 9 and 10 of that patent and, therefore, since many of its parts are similar in construction and in mode of operation to the corresponding parts shown in that patent, they will be only briefly described herein.

The work engaging tools include a pair of feed rolls 20, 22 and a pressure or work positioning roll 24 which functions also as a feed roll. Ihe rolls 20 and 22 are mounted at theouter ends of shafts 26, 28 respectively and the pressure roll 24 is mounted at the upper end of a vertical shaft 30. As fully described in said patent, these shafts and rolls are driven in proper time relation from a suitable source of power and the roll 22 is mounted in fixed bearings while the rolls 2!] and 24 are movable bodily and yieldingly with relation to the roll 22 to accommodate work of difierent thicknesses. Also the rolls 2% and 24 may be moved away from roll 22 by the operator to facilitate the entering of the insole between the rolls.

As shown in Fig. 2, the insole S, before it is presented to the machine, is channeled to produce a feather F and two flaps L and L which on their outer faces are provided with a layer of adhesive so that, when they are raised progressively towards each other and pressed together during the operation of the machine, they will be consolidated to form a unitary, upstanding, stitch-receiving lip or rib, as shown between the rolls in Fig. 2 and also at the right in Figs. 4 and 5. Preferably the rolls are so shaped that they will leave the lip inclined slightly inward as shown.

For raising the flaps L, L from the position shown at the top of Fig. 2 to the position shown near the middle thereof and for guiding them between the rolls 2D, 22, the machine is provided with two plows. One of these, designated 32, enters the inner channel of the insole beneath the lip L. As in the said patent, this plow 32 is mounted for upward movement with the roll 20 and may be adjusted vertically, longitudinally, and angularly relative to the roll and then clamped in adjusted position. The other plow, 34, enters the outer channel between the flap L and the feather F and is also adjustable in a plurality of directions relative to the lower roll 22 but, in accordance with the present invention, the plow 34 is mounted so as also to move transversely of the feather of the insole during the operation of the machine, as will now be more fully described.

As shown in Fig. 4, for example, the plow 34 tapers almost to a point 36 which is located at the entrance or front side of the rolls 2D, 22, and at the left of the vertical line joining the axes of the rolls. The plow 34 is adjustable lengthwise on a slide 38 and its shank 40, which is slotted at 4|, may be clamped in adjusted position by a screw 42 to a lateral extension 43 of the slide which is movable along a guideway 44 formed by plates 46, 48 clamped together by screws 50. These plates are located at the outer end of a stem 52 which is axially and angularly adjustable in the head of the machine where it may be clamped by a screw 54. The slide 38 and plow 34 are constantly pressed in an upward direction by spring 56 but the extent of movement in both directions is limited by a pin 58 passing through an elongated hole 60 in the slide. Thus, the spring 56 tends to maintain the point 36 or the upper face of the plow in contact with the lip of the insole at the base or root of the flap L and in the vertex of the angle where the flap joins the feather F of the insole.

In the machine of said prior patent, a plow correspondingly generally to this plow 3d was clamped in one adjustable position throughout the operation upon a single insole but, because of the convex and concave curvatures of the lip L, L and because the point 36 of the plow .is located in advance of the bite of the rolls 2'0, 22, applicant has discovered by experiment that it is preferable that the plow should occupy a higher position when the toe portion of the insole is being operated upon, as in Fig. 4, than when the portion of the insole at the rear of the ball line and at the forward part of the shank is being operated upon, as shown in Fig. 5, in order to insure that the flap L shall be turned up from the feather F for its full width or height from its base and so that ultimately the lip may be inclined inwardly somewhat after it leaves the rolls. On the other hand, if the plow were to occupy the position shown in Fig. 4 when the portion of the insole just in the rear of the ball line is being operated upon, it would be likely to interfere with the proper turning of the insole or cause the the plow to dig into and mutilate the between substance at the root of the lip. Hence, by providing that the plow 34 may yield in a downward and forward direction against the resistance of spring 56, the proper performance of the lip-setting operation is facilitated and an insole of better quality is insured.

Having thus indicated the object and nature of my invention and having described a particular embodiment of it, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for operating on insoles, each including an outer and an inner channel flap, having, in combination, a pair of plows for raising said two flaps toward each other progressively, a pair of feed rolls adjacent to the plows for pressing the contiguous, adhesively-coated faces of the flaps together and thus producing a unitary, upstanding stitch-receiving lip, a pressure roll for engaging the unchanneled face of the insole opposite the flaps, means for supporting said three rolls for relative bodily movement, power means for driving said rolls to feed the insole, and means for guiding and yieldingly supporting that plow which engages the outer flap with the point of the plow in engagement with the root of the flap in advance of the bite of the rolls, said plow-supporting means comprising a part having a guideway inclined upwardly and forwardly relatively to the line of feed, a slide to which the plow is secured and which is movable along said guideway, a spring tending to move the slide upwardly, and a stop to limit such movement.

2. A machine for operating on insoles, each including an outer and an inner channel flap, having, in combination, a pair of plows for raising said two flaps toward each other progressively, a pair of feed rolls for pressing the flaps together, means for supporting said rolls for relative bodily movement, power means for driving said rolls to feed the insole, and means for guiding and yieldingly supporting that plow which engages the outer flap with the point of the plow in engagement with the root of the flap in advance of the bite of the rolls, said plow-supporting means comprising a part having a guideway inclined upwardly and forwardly relatively to the line of feed, a slide to which the plow is secured and which is movable along said guideway, and a spring acting upon the slide.

3. In a machine for operating on insoles, each including an outer and an inner channel flap, the combination of a pair of plows for raising said two flaps toward each other progressively, a pair of feed rolls adjacent to the plows for pressing the flaps together, means for supporting said rolls for relative bodily movement, means for guiding and yieldingly supporting that plow which engages the outer fiap comprising a part having a guideway inclined upwardly and rearwardly relative to the line of feed, a slide carrying said plow and movable along said guideway, and a spring acting upon the slide.

4. In a machine for operating on channeled soles, the combination of a pair of feed rolls, a plow for raising the flap of a channel formed in a sole and for guiding the flap between the rolls, and means for guiding and yieldingly supporting the plow with the point of the plow in engagement with the root of the flap in advance of the bite of the rolls, said means comprising a carrier mounted in the head of the machine for adjustment in two directions and providing a guideway inclined upwardly and rearwardly relatively to the line of feed, a slide to which the plow is adjustably secured and which is movable along said guideway, means for clamping said slide in adjusted position on the carrier, a spring interposed between a surface on the carrier and one end of the slide and tending to move the slide upwardly, and a pin-and-slot connection between the carrier and the slide to limit the movement of the slide in both directions.

5. In a machine for operating on channeled soles, the combination of a pair of feed rolls, a plow for raising the flap of a channel formed in a sole and for guiding the flap between the rolls, and means for guiding and yieldingly supporting the plow with the point of the plow in engagement with the root of the flap in advance of the bite of the rolls, said means comprising a carrier mounted in the head of the machine for adjustment in two directions and providing a guideway inclined upwardly and rearwardly relatively to the line of feed, a slide to which the.

plow is adjustably secured and which is movable along said guideway, a spring mounted in the carrier and acting on the slide to move it upwardly, and a stop to limit such movement.

6. In a machine for operating on channeled soles, the combination of a pair of feed rolls, a plow for raising the flap of a channel formed in a sole and for guiding the flap between the rolls, and means for guiding and yieldingly supporting the plow, said means comprising a part having a guideway inclined upwardly and rearwardly relative to the line of feed, a slide which carries the plow, and a spring acting upon the slide.

'7. In a machine for operating on channeled soles, the combination of a pair of feed rolls, a plow for raising the flap of a channel formed in a sole and for guiding the flap between the rolls, and means for guiding and yieldingly supporting the plow while permitting it to move relatively to both rolls.

CHESTER A. HILL. 

